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Dungeons aren't easy to get into, though. I'm not sure how you can even say that. It's difficult to find a group, and you need to be a certain level to access them. So you can choose to walk into a dungeon about as easily as you can choose to walk into Mordor, I guess. Or however hte meme goes. But really, it doesn't work like that.

If I'm wrong, correct me, but I don't think I'm wrong.

A proper LFG tool would solve most of the issues of finding groups, but even without one it really isn't as hard as most make it out to be. Pug groups advertise constantly in LA. (Other than Story Modes because there's no real incentive to repeat it after you've done it once) Dungeons start at 30. Level 30 really doesn't take a long time to get to and most of the leveling dungeons are pretty easy. 30-35: Ascalon Catacombs; 40-45 Caudecus Manor; 50-55 Twilight Arbor, etc.

It's really not as hard as you think it is to get a dungeon group. Sure, you get the occasional knucklehead who won't let you go into an exp dungeon run at the proper level because you're not 80, but that's not always the case.

Honestly, this game has some of the easiest leveling I've seen. No where near as tedious as any other MMO I've played.

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Your other choices count on me wanting to combat other people. I have a nervous condition and an overwrought guilty conscience. If I lose at PvP, I lose confidence in my ability to play, if I win in PvP, I tend to think too much about how crappy I've likely made the other team feel. I'm too empathic, so PvP isn't a good playstyle for me. I prefer playing against an unfeeling program, either with other people or on my own.

PVP isn't for everyone, some people take it too personally. Despite the issue most people have with being stomped by experienced players, or dealing with ragers, the PVP in this game is very accessible. Straight out of the bat you have access to all skills, trait points, and weapons. Armor and rune stats are normalized and a rank 40 player has no statistical edge over a rank 1. Literally requires no grinding unless you want to look cool. At that point it's just a matter of getting experience. However it does need proper match making. Hot join isn't perfect by a long stretch, but it's quick and easy to get into, and matches range from 5-10 mins.

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So, if you look at it like that, you actually are stuck in the same few zones, doing the same content. Yes, when you've done the grinding to elvel up, you can get into dungeons, you can access other zones. Yes, this is all true. But it takes you weeks to do the grinding to even have the right to get into a dungeon (let alone finding a party for one), which is my point.

There is a lot to do, it might be more accurate to say that the small amount that you've done has you in the same few zones but it's a big game and it'll only get bigger. There's A LOT of work that needs to go into it. If it required a sub I wouldn't even consider playing this game, but the nice thing is that if I get bored I can just put it down and do something else for a while and come back whenever I feel like it.

To me that's what a casual game is all about. I don't have to set time aside to raid with the guild or join any scheduled events. I can just pick it up whenever, do some things, then put it down. Getting exotic gear was easy, I didn't have to do a ton of raids and dungeons and hope what I wanted drops. I could craft a few pieces here, buy a couple others there with dungeon tokens. Hell I could buy them off the trading post.

Does being stuck in the same handful of zones sound that fun? It doesn't to me. And your only option to get out of that samey handful of zones is to grind (and maybe pay some real money to alleviate some of that grind). So it gets boring really quickly. It's like... what if Skyrim trapped you in Whiterun and forced you to remain there and in its nearby areas for weeks on end? Does that sound like fun? No? There you go.

Except you're not. You have several options that are easy to get into. World exploration, dungeons, PVP, WVW. You don't have to stay in the same couple zones, but if you do that's your decision. I can spend an hour or two one day playing this game and do several different things.

There are multiple ways to make money, but you first have to look at what you're currently spending coin on. Once I finished my crafting professions (well, 2 to go anyway, taking a break on that gold sink.) I noticed that I wasn't so broke anymore. I run 0 MF, usually forget or don't bother to buy foods like omnom or peach bars, and rarely, if ever step foot in Orr.

What I do is pretty much run dungeons, and a good run will see you at or around 1G before even selling the drops. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEND A DIME IN THE CASH SHOP ​(sorry for the caps and bold but I really want to emphasize this.) Selling all the blues and greens will net a good bit of silver, and the rares are currently selling for 20ish gold a pop (mystic forge gamblers and ecto collectors are buying these up like crazy.) I don't usually get rares but when I do they really cap a run off. This is not the fastest or most effective way to make coin, but it is the safest and most reliable, I find. It took some time but I have 5/6 cultural T3 armor peices on my Thief from strictly dungeon running. They've really increased the amount of coin you get from them recently.

Also, as potentially rewarding as gambling can be, you're more likely to lose than win. Also ask yourself what it is that you really want. If you just want a set of exotics they really aren't that hard to get. If you want the nice stuff like the cool skins and legendary weapons you have to ask yourself if you're willing to put the time and effort into getting them, they aren't needed to experience the content. Good luck and have fun ( and if you're not having fun, then find something to do that is fun )

PS - I'm reserving judgement for ascended gear until they actually put it in the game.